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Certification Resources / Technical Sales Specialist / Exam Outline

Technical Sales Specialist – Exam Outline

This outline describes the domains, objectives, and relative weighting for the Technical Sales certification exam.

Exam Overview

  • Length: 75 minutes
  • Questions: 60 items
  • Passing score: 70% or higher
  • Format: Multiple-choice, single-best-answer

Domains & Weighting

Domain 1: Prospecting and Lead Generation (25%)

  • Identify prospective customers using industry tools (ZoomInfo, Apollo, Lusha, LinkedIn Sales Navigator)
  • Execute cold calling, email sequencing, and outbound messaging strategies
  • Qualify inbound leads from landing pages, AI chat, or marketing funnels
  • Build prospect lists through scraping tools, databases, and networking
  • Apply multi-channel outreach (phone, SMS, email, social)
  • Leverage sales automations to increase outreach volume
  • Track activity metrics: calls, connections, demos set, and conversion ratios
  • Use value-based messaging to open conversations with prospects

Domain 2: Customer Research and Qualification (15%)

  • Research customer personas, industry trends, and business pain points
  • Apply technical qualification frameworks (BANT, MEDDIC, SPIN, GPCT)
  • Identify decision makers vs. influencers in complex organizations
  • Determine tech stack, budget constraints, and adoption readiness
  • Assess customer’s business challenges and technical needs
  • Document qualification notes in CRM with accuracy and clarity
  • Score leads based on fit, urgency, and potential revenue impact

Domain 3: Rapport Building and Customer-Centric Communication (15%)

  • Build trust using tone, clarity, and technical understanding
  • Use active listening to capture customer needs and concerns
  • Customize demos or product explanations based on customer pain points
  • Translate technical features into business value and ROI
  • Establish rapport through empathy, professionalism, and relevance
  • Conduct discovery calls with structured questioning
  • Maintain consistent communication throughout the sales cycle

Domain 4: Objection Handling, Rebuttals and Closing Skills (25%)

  • Identify common objections (price, timing, internal approval, tech compatibility).
  • Use structured rebuttal frameworks (Feel–Felt–Found, LAER, SPIN)
  • Present competitive differentiators clearly and accurately
  • Validate customer concerns and reframe objections in their favor
  • Deliver compelling closing statements aligned to customer ROI
  • Guide the customer through decision points with confidence
  • Negotiate terms without compromising value or credibility
  • Ask for the sale directly and professionally.

Domain 5: Follow-up, Pipeline Management and Customer Nurturing (10%)

  • Maintain active follow-ups using reminders, email automation, and sequencing
  • Track deal stages inside CRM pipelines
  • Provide value-based check-ins during long sales cycles
  • Update pipeline metrics and close dates for forecasting
  • Nurture colder leads with educational or value-based resources
  • Conduct post-sale follow-up to encourage retention, upsells, or referrals

Domain 4: Objection Handling, Rebuttals and Closing Skills (10%)

  • Use CRM systems (Salesforce, HubSpot, Zoho) to track leads and deals
  • Log calls, notes, demos, and follow-ups accurately
  • Use lead scoring systems and tagging tools
  • Operate AI-supported sales assistants and productivity tools
  • Generate reports for activity tracking and conversion performance
  • Use calendar booking tools (Calendly, HubSpot) and email templates
  • Interpret analytics and pipeline dashboards

References & Preparation

Candidates are encouraged to study sales techniques, complete hands-on projects, and review the official COITB exam prep materials to ensure familiarity with each domain.